H Mart ( ko, H 마트 or ) is an American supermarket chain of

Asian supermarket In the West or non-Asian countries, an Asian supermarket largely describes a category of grocery stores that focuses and stocks items and products imported from countries located in the Far East (e.g. East, Southeast and South Asia). These st ...

s operated by the Hanahreum Group, headquartered in Lyndhurst, Bergen County (버건군),

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delawa ...

. The chain has 84 stores throughout the United States, operated variously as H Mart, H Mart Northwest, and H Mart Colorado; two stores in the Pacific Northwest operate as G Mart. It also has stores in Canada and eight in the United Kingdom, including seven locations of Oseyo. H Mart is the largest U.S.-based grocery store chain that specializes in Asian-style products and caters to Asian-American shoppers. The "H" in "H Mart" stands for ''Han Ah Reum'' (한아름), a

Korean Korean may refer to: People and culture * Koreans, ethnic group originating in the Korean Peninsula * Korean cuisine * Korean culture * Korean language **Korean alphabet, known as Hangul or Chosŏn'gŭl **Korean dialects and the Jeju language ** ...

phrase meaning "one arm full of groceries". This phrase translates more literally to "spreading both arms to cover" or "armful".

History

The H Mart chain began in 1982 in

Woodside Woodside may refer to: Places and buildings Australia * Woodside, South Australia, a town * Woodside, Victoria, a town Canada * Woodside National Historic Site, the boyhood home of William Lyon Mackenzie King *Woodside, Nova Scotia, a neighbo ...

, Queens (퀸스), in New York City (뉴욕), as a small corner

grocery store A grocery store ( AE), grocery shop ( BE) or simply grocery is a store that primarily retails a general range of food products, which may be fresh or packaged. In everyday U.S. usage, however, "grocery store" is a synonym for supermarket, a ...

. Subsequent H Marts were operated differently from the original one, which maintained the original Han Ah Reum name and signage until it closed in 2020.

United States

From 1982 to 1991, the company added 10 stores, mostly in the

Northeastern United States The Northeastern United States, also referred to as the Northeast, the East Coast, or the American Northeast, is a geographic region of the United States. It is located on the Atlantic coast of North America, with Canada to its north, the Southe ...

. In 1997, the company opened its first store in

Falls Church, Virginia Falls Church is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 14,658. Falls Church is included in the Washington metropolitan area. Taking its name from The Falls Church, an 18th-century Ch ...

, in the Washington-Baltimore metropolitan area. On October 19, 1998, the chain opened its current headquarters in Lyndhurst in Bergen County (버건군),

, the U.S. county with the highest Korean population percentage, at 6.9%. In 2004, the first Super H Mart opened in

Duluth, Georgia Duluth is a city in Gwinnett County, Georgia, United States. Located north of Interstate 85, it is approximately northeast of Atlanta. As of the 2020 census, Duluth had a population of 31,873, and the United States Census Bureau estimated the ...

. By 2005, the chain had 17 stores; the following March, 22—all on the East Coast except for two stores in

Denver Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

, Colorado. Its first West Coast location, in Federal Way, Washington, opened in April 2006. After its 2001 opening, an H Mart store in

northern Virginia Northern Virginia, locally referred to as NOVA or NoVA, comprises several counties and independent cities in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. It is a widespread region radiating westward and southward from Washington, D.C. Wit ...

gained many

Hispanic American Hispanic and Latino Americans ( es, Estadounidenses hispanos y latinos; pt, Estadunidenses hispânicos e latinos) are Americans of Spanish and/or Latin American ancestry. More broadly, these demographics include all Americans who identify a ...

employees. After cultural conflicts between Hispanic and

Korean American Korean Americans are Americans of Korean ancestry (mostly from South Korea). In 2015, the Korean-American community constituted about 0.56% of the United States population, or about 1.82 million people, and was the fifth-largest Asian America ...

employees in one store, the H Mart headquarters provided an intercultural training program, with translations in Spanish. In spring 2017, H Mart opened a 43,000 square-foot store in

San Jose, California San Jose, officially San José (; ; ), is a major city in the U.S. state of California that is the cultural, financial, and political center of Silicon Valley and largest city in Northern California by both population and area. With a 2020 popu ...

. In summer 2018, H Mart signed a lease for a 42,000-square-foot store in San Francisco. As of 2021, there were 84 H Mart stores in the United States, located in New York, New Jersey, Arizona, California, Colorado, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas, Virginia, and Washington.

Canada

H Mart began moving into western Canada in December 2003, with its first store in

Coquitlam, British Columbia Coquitlam ( ) is a city in the Lower Mainland of British Columbia, Canada. Mainly suburban, Coquitlam is the sixth-largest city in the province, with a population of 148,625 in 2021, and one of the 21 municipalities comprising Metro Vancouver. ...

, a West Coast location that opened ahead of stores in Seattle, Los Angeles, and San Francisco. In subsequent years, the company opened stores in

Downtown Vancouver Downtown Vancouver is the central business district and the city centre neighbourhood of Vancouver, Canada, on the northwestern shore of the Burrard Peninsula in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. It occupies most of the north shor ...

and Langley in 2006;

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States * Richmond, London, a part of London * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, Californi ...

in 2012; and Port Coquitlam in 2016. In 2013, the company opened its first urban convenience format on Yonge Street and Churchill Avenue in the

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...

-suburb of Willowdale called "M2M–morning to midnight". The two-story, store is the first one in Canada. There are currently two other M2M stores in the U.S., both in Manhattan (맨해튼). A larger H Mart opened on Yonge Street in Richmond Hill, with another opening in Downtown Toronto across from Ryerson University (now Toronto Metropolitan University) in 2017. In July 2019, an H Mart opened in

Edmonton Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city an ...

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest T ...

, followed by another in

Calgary Calgary ( ) is the largest city in the western Canadian province of Alberta and the largest metro area of the three Prairie Provinces. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806, maki ...

, also in Alberta, in 2020.

United Kingdom

H Mart Europe Limited was incorporated in 2009, and in 2011, H Mart opened its first store in Europe, in the

New Malden New Malden is an area in South West London, England. It is located mainly within the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames and the London Borough of Merton, and is from Charing Cross. Neighbouring localities include Kingston, Norbiton, Raynes ...

area of London. Smaller stores operate as '' Oseyo''.

Controversies

In 2006, a

civil suit - A lawsuit is a proceeding by a party or parties against another in the civil court of law. The archaic term "suit in law" is found in only a small number of laws still in effect today. The term "lawsuit" is used in reference to a civil act ...

was filed against H Mart for discrimination against whites when three tenants of the West Willow Shopping Mall in Willowbrook, Canada, which the company had moved into and then bought, filed a complaint with the

British Columbia Human Rights Tribunal The British Columbia Human Rights Tribunal is a quasi-judicial human rights body in British Columbia, Canada. It was established under British Columbia's ''Human Rights Code''. It is responsible for "accepting, screening, mediating and adjudicati ...

alleging that the company wanted to turn it into an Asian-only market. All three tenants made the claim when their leases were not renewed despite being long-term lease holders within the mall. In late 2007, tribunal member Lindsay Lyster dismissed their complaint on the grounds it had no reasonable prospect of success and did not merit a hearing. She wrote:

In the end, I have concluded that the complainants' case is based on little more than conjecture based on what they read in the media and H-Mart's reputation as a "Korean market," as seen through the lens of their own unhappiness in being unable to maintain their businesses in the mall.

In 2012, picketers gathered outside one of the Flushing (플러싱) stores to protest H Mart's hiring practices. Protest organizer Jim MacDonald said the store, and other H Marts nearby, disproportionately hired Asian people and specifically Korean-Americans. H Mart responded in a statement that the company "does not screen employees by race, but by their capabilities"; for example, the Flushing store hires many Korean speakers to better serve its many customers who do not speak English. In 2013, Korean news agencies and government agencies alleged that H Mart laundered money for former South Korean president Chun Doo Hwan, who was convicted of embezzling hundreds of millions of dollars during his autocratic rule, and his family. In September 2013, Korean news channel

TV Chosun TV Chosun ( ko, TV조선; Hanja: 株式會社朝鮮放送; ''Jusikhoesa Joseon Bangsong''; literally "Company Korea Broadcasting"), stylised as TV CHOSUN, is a South Korean pay television network and broadcasting company, owned by the ''Chosun ...

reported that "South Korean prosecutors have traced Chun Doo-Hwan's secret funding to H Mart, as they found suspicious money laundering in an account” (translation by Boston Korea, a Boston-based Korean-language news site). Prosecutors also noted bank transfers from Chun's daughter-in-law marked "H Mart investment". H Mart President Kwon Il-Yeon denied the allegations.

References

External links

H Mart (United States)

H Mart (Pacific Northwest)H Mart (British Columbia and Alberta)

H Mart (Greater Toronto Area)

H Mart (London)
{{Supermarkets of the United States 1982 establishments in New York City Food manufacturers of the United States Korean-American culture Retail companies established in 1982 Supermarkets of the United States